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A lot or a little?

The parents' guide to what's in this app.

Educational Value

Kids can learn creative thinking, geometry concepts, and non-standard measurements in this sandbox-style creation game. The open-ended gameplay lets kids create structures and build worlds their minds imagine -- block by block. Kids can develop spatial reasoning as they play and build three-dimensional structures. Toca Builders gives kids a fun, easy-to-manage way to express creativity and use technology.

Ease of Play

The only instructions included are in text form in the parent's section, but this sandbox game is meant to be explored to figure out. Different builders move in different ways, and the controls can be tricky for small hands to control.

Violence & Scariness

Sexy Stuff

Language

Consumerism

The start page includes an ad for another Toca Boca app, accessible only through following written instructions to double-swipe.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that, though most Toca Boca apps are for preschoolers, Toca Builders was designed for kids ages 5 to 11. For kids not quite ready for or interested in Minecraft, Toca Builders offers sandbox-style play where kids can create worlds. It's easier to pick up and play than Minecraft, and there's no fighting or monsters.

What's it about?

Play starts with a flat world floating on water. Kids control six different builders, each with a different job, to design whatever worlds they can imagine. One builder paints the ground. Another drops blocks from a backpack or destroys them with a hammer. A crane places blocks in high places, and a jumper hops up and places blocks. Another painter spits paint, and one builder stretches and places blocks in midair. Different builders can destroy blocks, too -- but not in an antagonistic way -- just to help create the world that kids imagine. There's no competition or objective in the open-ended creation game. It's like playing with LEGOs without having to store them.

Is it any good?

Alongside Minecraft and other sandbox-style creation toys and games, Toca Builders holds its own. The builder characters will appeal to kids drawn to stories, and the open-ended creation possibilities put kids in charge of their fun. Some characters move directionally using a gear-like shifter. Some move using a roller ball. Switching back and forth can get a little confusing, but most of the other controls are easy to pick up and fun to play around with. Parents who have had their device's camera roll fill up with their kids' Toca Boca creations will appreciate that Toca Builder's default is not linked to the camera roll. It can be changed in the game's settings. Creations are automatically saved, too, and kids can revisit them. It would be nice if all of the builders could enter the buildings kids create, but some are taller than six blocks, the maximum number of blocks the game allows players to stack.

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